Mankind's Future
by Desertgal
Summary: 1994-A brief meeting with a cop from the future has Fox convinced the alien invasion is expanding. Darien's encounter with Paul and Scott gives him insight into technological developments made in the past, or is it the future?


MANKIND'S FUTURE  
By: Desertgal  
Copyright 1994

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"Scott! This way!"

Paul Forrester motioned his son to follow him into the alley. They crouched behind a dumpster and panted as they tried to catch their breath. Since their escape from the FSA detention center about twenty minutes ago, they had been running through the streets of Washington D.C. trying to elude Fox.

George Fox leaned against the brick wall, closed his eyes, and gasped for air. He knew the alien and his offspring weren't far ahead of him, but he just had to rest. _I can't believe I had them in custody and that imbecile Wylie unchained them to let them use the restroom._ Fox patted his pants pocket. _At least I have the silver marbles._

Darien Lambert pointed the P.P.T. at Jacinto Alvarez and pushed the red button. The pellet struck the wall where the fugitive had been as Alvarez leaped over an eight foot fence in a single bound. Darien reached the fence in seconds, hurdled it and landed on both feet. "Which way S.E.L.M.A.?"

"Six meters straight ahead."

Darien crouched and scanned the area. "In the alley?"

"Yes, Captain."

Darien ran across the street as S.E.L.M.A. continued to describe the situation.

"There is no opening at the other end of this passage. It would appear he is trapped." S.E.L.M.A. paused for a moment. "Captain, I also detect…"

"Not now, S.E.L.M.A.," Darien said as he slipped into the alley. "Alvarez, I know you're here. There's no way out. Give it up!"

"No way, Lambert. You're not sending me back." A blue streak leaped from the back of the alley as Alvarez fired a laser rifle at the fugitive retrieval cop from the future.

Fox saw the blue flash and pulled his gun. He began walking cautiously down the street towards the alley, hugging the wall as he went.

Scott watched the two men move past their hiding place, then looked at his father and whispered, "What do we do now?"

Paul shrugged and whispered back. "Stay here and be quiet." He paused. "I wish I had my sphere."

Scott nodded.

As Fox neared the opening to the alley, he crouched with gun drawn. He saw a tall man, bent at the waist, slinking along one wall.

Darien glimpsed Alvarez behind a pile of boxes. He pulled S.E.L.M.A. from his pocket and held her above his head. "Telescope mode, S.E.L.M.A.." As a view of the fugitive came into view, Darien took aim with the P.P.T. and pushed the red button.

The pellet missed its target as Alvarez jumped ten feet straight into the air, and grabbed the end of a fire-escape ladder. He swung on one arm, leveled the laser rifle at Darien and fired.

Fox flattened himself against the wall as the fireworks several feet inside the alley burst forth. "More aliens!" he exclaimed to himself. "These creatures will destroy mankind if I don't stop them."

Darien dropped to the ground and rolled as the blue streak flashed in the air where his head had been seconds before. A hole, two feet in diameter, appeared in the brick wall. Several more shots from the laser rifle kept Darien on the move and blasted more holes in the walls and ground.

Scott looked at his father. "Have you ever seen a gun like _that_?"

"No, never."

"Do you think it's some kind of alien weapon?"

"It could be, I guess. In our explorations we try to avoid species that are savage." Paul sighed. "Until I came here, I'd not been exposed to much violence. I just don't understand it."

Fox flattened himself against the wall as the fireworks several feet inside the alley burst forth. "More aliens!" he exclaimed to himself. "These creatures will destroy mankind if I don't stop them."

Taking advantage of the commotion he'd created, Alvarez scrambled up the ladder.

Darien rolled to his feet, and looked up to see Alvarez climbing. "Stop, Alvarez." When the fugitive ignored him, Darien leaped to the bottom of the ladder and took the steps two at a time, dodging erratic shots from the laser rifle. Taking aim with the P.P.T. he hit Alvarez in the back with a red pellet. As the man began to fall to the ground, thirty feet below, Darien said, "Transmission tones, S.E.L.M.A.."

Fox stood open mouthed as the man glowed red, and then disappeared in a white flash of light. He watched the tall man descend the ladder and jump the ten feet to the ground. Fox entered the alley with his gun drawn. "Hold it. You're coming with me. What happened to the other man?"

Darien looked up to see a short, balding man pointing a gun at him. Raising his hands slowly, and walking forward, Darien said, "Whoa there buddy. I'm not going to hurt you."

"It's Fox!" Scott hissed. "We're trapped!"

Paul put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Relax. He can't see us."

"I don't know what you just did," Fox said, "but I know it wasn't…normal. No human can jump ten feet straight up into the air. And people don't just disappear."

Darien still had the P.P.T. in his raised hand. He pushed the blue button and a pellet hit the man. As he fell, Darien ran to him and kicked the gun away. Darien turned him over, and removed his wallet. Flipping it open he read: George Fox, Federal Security Agency. "A Fed. I might have known."

"It would appear this man is a law enforcement officer, Captain. He saw you temport Alvarez and reacted to something he didn't understand."

"Yes, S.E.L.M.A.."

Darien put the wallet back and got to his feet. "Let's get out of here before he wakes up."

S.E.L.M.A. clicked.

"What is it now?"

S.E.L.M.A. clicked again, but didn't talk.

Darien looked up to see a man and boy approaching.

Paul walked to Fox, knelt beside him, and placed his hands on either side of his head.

"What are you doing now, Dad? You're not going to h…." Scott hesitated as he glanced at the man and decided he shouldn't say 'heal'. "…help him again?"

"There's no need, Scott. He's just asleep and will awaken in about two minutes, but I had to make sure he was okay."

"Who are you?" Darien asked. "How do you know so much about the condition of our friend here?"

Paul looked up as he started to feel Fox's pockets. "I just do." Finding the spheres, he pulled them out and stood. "I'm Paul Forrester and this is my son, Scott."

"What are you doing?" Darien asked. "I can't let you take anything from him."

Handing Scott his sphere, Paul said, "These belong to us."

Darien grabbed Paul's wrist. "How do I know that?"

Paul felt an unusual heartbeat coming from this man. He sensed he was also different in other ways he didn't really understand. Paul looked directly into the man's eyes. "These are ours." He paused. "We have to get away from here before Fox wakes up."

"Why?"

"He thinks we're dangerous."

"Are you?"

"No. We're just…different." Nodding his head towards the P.P.T. that was still in Darien's hand, he said, "You did some unusual things, too. I don't think you should be here either when he comes around."

Darien wasn't sure why he felt he could trust this man, but he did. "You're right. Let's go."

"Who are you?" Scott asked, "and what did you do to him?" He pointed to Fox. "What's that thing in your hand? What did you do to that man? Why should we trust you?"

"You're sure full of questions." Darien smiled and extended his hand. "My name is Darien Lambert, and as your father said, we should get out of this area before…"

S.E.L.M.A. clicked a warning and Darien jerked his head towards the open end of the alley.

"You're not going anywhere, Lambert!" Lucia Vasquez shouted. "Where's Jacinto?"

Darien pulled Paul and Scott to the side of the alley and pushed them down behind some boxes. "He's gone, Lucia. I sent him back."

"Noooo!" she wailed. The blast of a laser rifle seared the air above them. Vasquez ran blindly towards them, firing constantly, though without aiming carefully.

Paul knew the flimsy cardboard boxes would be no protection from this weapon if the woman made a direct hit. He pulled the sphere from his pocket, and projected a shield in front of them.

Darien looked at the blue glow that leapt from the man's hand. "What's that?" When Paul didn't respond, he said, "S.E.L.M.A., talk to me."

"It appears to be a force field of pure energy, Captain. My data banks contain no information on this technology in this time. A similar device, the Forrester Shield, was developed in 2055 by Dr. Karen Hayden."

"Will the P.P.T. penetrate it?"

"No."

Darien glanced at Vasquez, who was now almost upon them, then turned to Paul. "Can you lift the field to let me fire under it?"

Nodding, Paul let the bottom of the shield dissolve.

Fox sat up and shook his head. He focused on the activity down the alley.

Darien dropped to the ground, fired a red pellet into the woman, and said, "Transmission tones, S.E.L.M.A."

Fox watched the woman glow red, and then disappear in a flash of white light. He stumbled towards the blue glow.

Paul let the shield drop and the three came out from their hiding place. He raised an eyebrow. "What did you do to those people? Are they dead?"

"No, they are very much alive, just not here. I…"

"Hold it," Fox shouted, grabbing at his empty holster. "You aliens are coming with me."

Darien stepped forward, placing himself between Paul and Scott, and Fox. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "No, Mr. Fox, they are not going with you." Displaying his badge, he continued, "I'm a U.S. marshal and these two are in my custody."

"A cop!" Scott yelled in distress. "Dad, he's a cop!"

Paul placed a hand on his son's shoulder and opened his hand to reveal the sphere. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to us."

Darien pushed the blue button and pumped a second pellet into Fox. As he fell, Darien turned to Paul and Scott. When he saw the sphere in Paul's hand, he raised his hands. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"We can't go with you," Paul said.

"You don't have to." Darien tilted his head towards Fox. "Just hurry and get away from here before he wakes up again."

Paul put the sphere in his pocket. "Who are you? Who were you talking with?"

"I can't tell you that."

Paul raised his eyebrows quickly. "I don't think you're a U.S. marshal."

"No, but I am a policeman." Darien paused. "Just go, now."

Father and son exchanged a look. Paul shook the man's hand and felt a real compassion towards someone who was different. "Thank you."

Darien watched Paul and Scott sprint out of the alley. "Visual mode, S.E.L.M.A." After her female form appeared, Darien asked. "Who were they?"

"Paul Forrester is a photojournalist, and Scott Hayden is his son. They've been together since the boy's foster parents were killed in Seattle."

"Hayden? Like in Dr. Hayden, the Nobel prize winning physicist?"

"Yes, Dr. Karen Hayden is, or will be, Scott Hayden's granddaughter."

"They aren't from here, are they?"

"There was never anything proven, but strong evidence exists that the advances made by Dr. Hayden and others in Paul Forrester's extended family came from an alien knowledge. They will be responsible for some of the most significant advances known to mankind for the next two-hundred years."

Darien looked towards the end of the empty alley, then at the man on the ground. "I guess we did the right thing in helping them escape from him."

"It would appear so, Captain."

With one backward glance at Fox, Darien left the alley. S.E.L.M.A. de-materialized as he walked onto the street.

THE END


End file.
